


Cross Walks and Crossed Hearts and Hope-To-Dies

by defectiveambidextrous



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 18:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5976925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defectiveambidextrous/pseuds/defectiveambidextrous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amber saw her death coming, and she made a choice.</p>
<p>Set in an alternate universe where Emerald inherited the other half of the Fall Maiden's powers, while Cinder wants to claim what is hers. The choice is to fight or run.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cross Walks and Crossed Hearts and Hope-To-Dies

**Author's Note:**

> short prologue of a serious fic attempt. more to follow

Amber saw her death coming.

She technically "died" twice: once held by her arms in front of the woman who stole her power from her, and the second trapped in a metal container, fighting for her last breath. She had no idea how much time had passed between the two, only that it had. During her first death she was dimly aware of being carried, of odd pinpoint pricks on her arms and legs, and finally of being laid down on something cold and metallic. When she shut her eyes she thought it was for the last time. She was wrong.

Whatever she had been placed in took some of the pain and pressure on her body away. Her eyes could not open and she was no longer breathing with her mouth, but unlike her rescuers had thought she was aware of the world around her. She could hear things. She heard the discussion of what they were going to do to her- _rip her aura out of her body and give it to someone else!_ And she heard the voice of the girl they planned to pass it to.

"That's-"  
"Classified."  
"-wrong!"

Amber was glad the girl agreed with her. Unfortunately, being stuck in a semi-permanent stasis inhibited her ability to object to the plan. All she could do was listen as her future was planned for her. Being in borrowed time hardly countered her righteous anger, but deep down she knew she couldn't blame her rescuers. They all knew she was going to die. It was merely a matter of who her powers were going to go to. As long as they didn't go to the woman in red.

She was left alone for a long while, left to her thoughts. She had no idea how much time had passed before the next time she heard a sound, just minutes before her second death. Footsteps pounding down the corridor. It was time, Amber knew it, and sure enough her eyelids fluttered open. For the first time since her first death she could see. She saw the grey old man frantically working at the control, saw the tall blond boy fruitlessly standing guard, and she saw the woman in red, bow in hand, standing down the corridor.

Time seemed to slow down. The memory of her first death was vivid in her mind. She remembered not only the woman in red standing before her, but the two children holding her up, keeping her there while she screamed in agony. She remembered the boy with the metal legs, how he burst through the torrent of flame she sent his way. Finally, she remembered the girl with the searing red eyes. The girl who tricked her. The girl who had an all-too-similar appearance to the lost child she had attempted to help. The arrow was getting closer now. This was it. The only thing in life she could control was where her powers went. She would throw a spanner in the works, change the woman's plan for good.

The last thing she thought of before she died were the searing red eyes of a lost little girl turned down a dark path.


End file.
